Your D.E.I.A Work is Not Anti-Oppressive

This is a guest blog from Mynesha Spencer, Inclusion Strategist at All of Us Together Co. This blog is estimated to take 3 minutes to read.

As a consultant, I contracted with the Weitz Family Foundation in order to help assess and steer both internal and external human relation challenges, particularly those that fell into the realm of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (D.E.I.A.).

I think about the long decade I have spent working in the arena of D.E.I.A. In fact, I worked in the industry long before it was even called diversity, equity, inclusion or accessibility. These years of experience have taught me that diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility work is not the equivalent to anti-oppressive work neither in philosophy nor in practice. Additionally, my experience has taught me a lot about what inclusivity is not.

Inclusivity is NOT:

• Saying you value diversity and less than 25% of your leadership is not representative of people of the global majority or professionals who identify as people of color; or people who have historically been underrepresented within your organization or professional industry.
• Refusing to acknowledge or invite team members to discuss current events or tragedies that impact communities of color, communities of the global majority, or communities that have been historically underrepresented within your organization or professional industry. I assure you that if there is any racial or ethnic diversity within your organization or professional industry, these conversations are being had anyway. Lead and be the change.
• Performing to “care” about employees, clients, customers, partners, or other stakeholders representative of communities of color, people of the global majority, or those who have historically been underrepresented within your organization or professional industry.
• Refusing to acknowledge or invite team members or other stakeholders of all kinds to acknowledge by way of optional discussion: national and or social tragedies, current events, or the like.
• Refusing to acknowledge that the organization’s work, program, or events calendar ignores holidays associated with that of professionals who identify as part of the religious minority like that of those professionals who yield to Jewish or Islamic faith, for example.
• Inviting employees, clients, customers, partners, or other stakeholders into an environment you are not willing to alter. If you make this mistake, the diversity you have will not be “had” for very long.
• Adding employees, clients, customers, partners, or other stakeholders of color or who have historically been underrepresented within your organization or professional industry to an environment that does not include them in meetings where decisions are made, on projects where rigor is challenged, or in mentorship and/or promotional opportunities.

This is not to suggest that practicing inclusion or striving to become more inclusive should always be comfortable, because sometimes, it will not be. In fact, most times, it is not. We at All of Us Together Co. recognize that discussions regarding multicultural issues, race relations, and human rights may prove to be (1) either a comfortability or a competence challenge or (2) both a comfortability and a competence challenge, whether the person self-detects this assessment or not. To which we say, you are not alone! According to a 2021 Gallup survey study, 58% of professionals shared that they are not prepared to dialogue about race. (Gallup, 2021). We interpret “prepared” as both comfortable and competent enough to dialogue about race because this pair is not mutually exclusive. If you have one without the other, your organization will unequivocally reap failure. That same Gallup study suggests that “less than half of managers report having received diversity training [despite the fact that] managers who have received training are more prepared for conversations” (Gallup, 2021). This is why we prepare, facilitate, and provide a customized training curriculum to encourage human engagement so that all professionals feel both included and capable of including others.

So, what is inclusivity then? Inclusivity is making room for individuals who have historically—either by default or way of design (disregard intention)—been excluded from processes, systems, events, opportunities, or access because no institution will ever be better than the individuals responsible for managing it. If you would like that belief to read truer to you and the organization you represent, try replacing “better” with “more” then add any of the following: “anti-racist,” “equitable,” “inclusive,” “diverse,” and/or “just.”

• We must strive to help organizations thrive in human-relation management. Any organization or leader striving to become a more inclusive version of themselves, should employ the following tips as it applies to their personal or professional roles respectively:
• Make your observation your obligation: when comments are made or discussions are had about people of the global majority, people of color, or people who have historically been underrepresented within your organization or professional industry, ask your team if they have ever spoken to, solicited, or appealed to that people-population directly.
• Understand that the idea you are without is the voice you have not heard from: do not just invite the diversity of people of the global majority, people of color or people who have historically been underrepresented within your organization or professional industry—tap into it!
• Realize that acknowledging your organization’s lack of diversity and/or inclusion is not a tell-all for everything you have gotten wrong in the past. Rather, this acknowledgment is more of a tell-all for everything you want to get right in the future, especially for people of the global majority, people of color, or people who have historically been underrepresented within your organization or professional industry.
• Practice patience. A patient mentality is not an excuse for a do-nothing reality. However, one must understand that there is no human method possible to undo 150, 100, 50 or 5 years of organizational tradition in just the few short months/years that a D.E.I.A. committee has been formed. After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, many organizations were quick to start D.E.I.A. work. But patience is understanding that no matter how quick you are/were to start the work necessary to transform your organization for the better, you will surely be slow to yield positive results that prove sustainable.

For more tips like these, we kindly invite you to check out www.allofustogetherco.com or any of our social media channels.

A color image of a woman standing outdoors, wearing a green and white plaid skirt suit and white shirt. Her dark black hair is hanging in a curly ponytail.

Mynesha Spencer is an Inclusion Strategist at All of Us Together Co., a full-service human relations firm that specializes in diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies and competencies. The firm was established to improve human relations via applied training, auditing, consulting, and workshop facilitation. The firm equips large and small workforces, public and private K-collegiate educational entities, for-profit and non-profit organizations as well as municipal, state, and federal entities with the knowledge and resources that enables space for all people.

Sources: Most U.S. Managers Not Fully Prepared to Talk About Race by Ilana Ron Levey